Absorbent filled, elongated booms, usually having a built-in buoyancy, have been used to scavenge and/or contain oil spills on bodies of water. Illustrative such booms are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,607,741 to Sohnius, 3,617,566 to Oshima et al., 3,679,058 to Smith, 3,739,913 to Bogosian, and 4,366,067 to Golding. The outer covering for such booms is made of a hydrophobic material. An oil-absorbing cellulosic or synthetic material is contained within the covering.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 1,951,173 describes absorbent material-containing flat sacks that are porous and can be used for the removal of spilled liquids. U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,712 to Cowling describes expendable fabric pillows partially filled with a granular absorbent which is a cellulosic organic material such as corn cobs ground into granules. After use such pillows are disposed of by burning. The pillow fabric material is surfactant-treated, spun-bonded nylon. U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,505 to Walley et al. describes water scavenger pouches made from an open-mesh, hydrocarbon-impervious cloth container that confines therewithin a water-absorbent polymer and ballast that causes the pouches to sink to the bottom of a hydrocarbon liquid pool.
Additionally, knit fabric sleeves filled with comminuted corn cobs are commercially available for oil and grease removal from floors and like surfaces. However, when such liquid-absorbing devices are used for their intended purpose, some of the liquid to be absorbed remains on the floor or like solid surface in the form of an undesirable wet spot, or even puddle, when the device is lifted from the floor for disposal. Also, such absorbent devices present a fire hazard in view of the known auto-oxidation properties of oil when absorbed into a fabric. Moreover, when such a device is stepped on or otherwise compressed, the absorbed liquid is readily expressed therefrom.
It has now been found that improved absorbent devices that minimize or obviate the aforementioned drawbacks of current commercially available packaged absorbent materials can be provided by utilizing a particulate clay material of certain particle size within a tubular envelope made from a spun-laced non-woven web with balanced wicking properties with respect to the particulate clay material. The tubular envelope can be a boom, pillow, or the like device.